NRR Project: George Hicks’ D-Day broadcast
Recorded June 6, 1944
13:57
It is nothing short of astonishing to hear this recording. NBC correspondent George Hicks was assigned to cover the Allied invasion of Europe on D-Day – June 6, 1944. Lugging a heavy recorder, he placed himself high up in the workings of the U.S.S. Ancon, a support vessel sitting close off the coast of Normandy.
What we hear is 15 minutes of combat, narrated by Hicks. The ship is endangered by German plane attacks. The ship’s gunnery crew shoots one down. Hicks lets the story tell itself, only occasionally breaking in to provide some explanation for what we are hearing and what he is seeing. This is warfare, with no quarter given.
The recording was played over radio networks hours later, after the recording had returned safely to England. This slice of life on the battlefield was breathtaking then, and is still impressive today.
The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Eisenhower’s D-Day address.
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